North Wines Contrefort 2023 Macedon Ranges Pinot Noir

"This wine doesn’t tiptoe through the petunias, it sidesteps the violets to grab you by the black cherries. If you could imagine Southern Jura Pinot Noir — without the brett. — then you’ll understand this wine. That black fruit, dark loam squat central to the aromatic profile, but there is relief in the form of dried orange rind, iodine, and medicinal tinctures (of the kind which can no longer be bought for regulatory reasons). I am delighted that this wine has no finesse on the palate, being at first succulent and then chalkily austere when the tannins kick in like a village mule. Liqueur cherries, further dark forest fruits, and some blood plum vie for attention, followed by … I don’t know, leather, limestone, and panforte eaten in a eucalypt forest." - David